LOTTOLAND WINS AUSSIE LICENSE

From an article by Calvinayre.com

Yet another online threat to ‘bricks and mortar’ gaming venues in Australia has emerged.

Lottery betting site Lottoland has received a license to operate in Australia.  Their first offering to Aussie punters was a shot at the recent world-record US$1.5 billion (A$2.15 billion) Powerball lottery draw in the US.

The Gibraltar-based Lottoland was recently granted a five-year license from the Northern Territory’s Racing Commission. Former Betfred/Centrebet exec Luke Brill has been tapped to run Lottoland’s Aussie operations, which are already underway via the lottoland.com.au domain.

Lottoland is the first lottery betting site to receive an Aussie license, meaning Australians are getting their first shot at betting on the results of international lottery draws from the comfort of their own home. Previously, local residents would have to physically travel to foreign countries to be able to participate in non-Australian lottery drawings.

While Powerball’s rules allow foreigners to purchase tickets, a little known facet of US law prohibits foreigners from purchasing a ticket in the US, taking it back to their home country, then attempting to bring it back to the US to claim their winnings, which can be a pretty big let down for some Canadians living near the border.

US Code Title 19 section 1305 prohibits people from importing “any lottery ticket, or any printed paper that may be used as a lottery ticket, or any advertisement of any lottery” into the US from a foreign country. The law exempts lottery tickets “printed in Canada for use in connection with a lottery conducted in the United States.”

So buying a ticket online from a re-seller appears okay, while buying a ticket on a day trip to the US, bringing it back to Canada and then bringing it back to the US to claim your winnings is off limits.